Planter.



J. H. SMITH.

PLANTER.

APPLiCATION FILED MAY 22. 1917.

1,272,550. Patented July 16, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESSES I CJJWE m: NuRms PETERS ca. PHoru-Ln'l-w wnsnmcmn. n, c.

A J. H. SMITH.

PLANTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22. 1917.

Patented July 16, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- INVENTOR 62577765 #5 wffi/ WITN ESSES ATTOR N EY n1:mmms PI'TERS co PHOTO-LUNG" wAsmNc mm a. c.

JAMES H. SMITH, F FARMVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

' PLANTER.

To all whomit may concern:

'Be it known that I, JaMEsH. SMITH, a

i citizen of the United States, residing at of the hopper preferablywood, is shown.

Farmville, in the county of Pitt and State of North Carolina, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Planters,v of which thefollowing is a specification.

; Thisinvention relates to agricultural implements, and moreparticularly to garden seed planters of the hand type.

The object of the'invention is to provide a. simply constructed,efficient machine of this character which may be easily pushed by handover the ground to be planted, opening the furrow as it goes, depositingthe seed therein and covering them all in one operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the com- 'bination andarrangement of parts and in Fig. 4 is anenlarged detail sectional viewthrough the larger end of the hopper, and

Fig. 5 isa vertical section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

In the embodiment illustrated, a wheel 1 constructed of any suitablelight material, This wheel may be of any desired size, being preferablyabout fifty-four inches in circumference. This wheel 1 is mounted torevolve. on an axle 2 which projects laterally from an iron bar 3'constituting the frame of the machine.

This axle 2 extends through the wheel and. some distance beyond itatoneside thereof and supports a seed box or hopper 4, shown truncatedcone-shaped in form with the larger end disposed adjacent one face ofthe wheel, said wheel operating to close this end as is shown clearly inFig. 4. The axle 2 extends from end to end through the hopper 4 andprojects beyond its smaller Specification of Letters Patent.

v planting.

.row opener 19. This opener 19 may threaded a d eq i pe wi h:

Patented July 1c, 1918.

Application filed May 22, 1917. Serial No. 170,243.

a nut in the form of a cap 5 which retains in position a cap-likeremovable closure 6 fit ting the small outer end of the hopper and whichafi'ords access to said hopper for filling and other purposes.

An annular peripheral channel 7 is formed on the inner face of thehopper 4 at its larger end, said channel being here shown angular incross section, the outer wall thereof being formed by the adjacent faceof the wheel 1. The peripheral walls of this channel is provided with aplurality of alined spaced apertures 9 through which the seed aredesigned to be dropped, the distance apart of said. aperturescontrolling the distance apart the seed will be planted.

Mounted to turn in the channel 7 is a band 10 having apertures 11therein positioned to register with the apertures in the channel wall.-This band is peripherally movable in said channel to control the size ofthe seed discharge openings 9.

(See Fig. 5). The adjustment of this band is accomplished by means of a.stud 12 which projects from the band through a peripherally extendingslot 13 in the channel wall as is shown clearly in Fig. 5, said studbeing equipped with a win g nut 14 whereby the band is clamped inadjusted position. It will be seen that by loosening this nut 1.4 andshifting the position of the band that the position of the openings 11therein may be movedtowa-rd or away from the opening 9 in the hopper sothat said hopper openings will be en larged or decreased in size at thewill of the operator or if desired, entirely closed, which latter isdesirable when the device is not in operation or when the machine isbeing moved from place to place preparatory to The ends of the iron bar3 are bent laterally in the same direction as shown at 15 and 16,-thefront end 15 thereof being provided with an upstanding apertured ear 17in which is bolted the shank 18 of a E111; be 0' any suitable or desiredform and of any ,desired size accordingto the seed to be planted andobviously it may be removed and another substituted therefor, simply byremoving the bolt which connects the shankthereof to the front end ofthe bar 3.

A prong or shank 20 extends rearwardly from the laterally extendingarm16 of the bar 3 and is designed to be inserted in a handle, 21 whichmay be composed of any suit b e ma erial P fer bl 9t WQQCL Th s theflaring-side walls of which are designed to engage theloose-earthon'opposite sides of the furrow"openedwbythe point 19 andforce the earthdown intothe 'furrow'covering up the seed which have beendropped therein from the hopper L=bYithG PEISSIgG of the planter.

To assistiin-t'his covering operation, a cross bar 28 is'pre'ferablysecuredtothe rearend of this cover-er 27 .as is shown clearly in .Figs,l,2"and-3, and projects-atits ends be yond the opposite sides'off' saidmember 27.

The spring which connectstheshank ofupright 26'of' the covererwith'thebracket arm 24 .is designed to hold .said 'coverer' in positionwh'en'theh'andle' 2l is raised and lowered, it being understood thatthis cover member pivotally connected with the bracket and that thespringalso operates to hold thefootportion 27 yieldaloly in engagementwith the earth.

The'liopper 4 may be constructed of any suitable material, preferably oftin, aluminum-or the like, andwhen the machine is to begoperaited,said'hopp'er-isfirstfilled with the seed to'be plantedby removing theclosure 6 at the small end thereof, and after it has been so filled,this closure isreplaced and secured by the cap 5. Theopenings 9 in'theperiphery of the larger'end o f the hopper arethen adjusted according tothe size and number of the seed to be planted ina single hill byadjusting the band '10 in the manner :above described. Then'by pushingthe ma chine forward, the furrow opener 19 will open a furrow inadvance'ofthe hopper of the depth it is desired to plant the seed, whichis accomplishedbyraising o1"lowering the handle. When the handleisraised, the opener '19 will enter the ground at a greater depth thanwhen it is lowered and this is accomplished at the will of'the opera-.tor. The large wheel l' th'en follows in the .path oftheifurrow openerand the rotation thereof discharges the seedl'in the hopper through theopenings 9,the position of the seed in the furrow being shown in Fig. 1;The cover member 27 following at the rear ;-of.the wheel dragsthelooseearth'down over lthecseed .and'ihills it up'thereover as shown.clearlyliniFig. 1,,the crossbar '28 serving to" 1 smoothofithe t'opofjthe hilled up. earth.

From'the foregoingdes'criptiomtaken in body-of the bar.

.connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages oftheconstruction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art to which the invention appertains and while Ihave described the principle of operation ofthe invention together withthe device which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, Idesire to have it understood that the devicev shownis *merelyillustrativeand that such"changesmay'be-made as arewithin the scope ofthe claimed invention.

1. In a plant'erof the 'class described, a frame comprising a bar havinglongitudinally spaced laterally extendingarms, an axle fixed to andextending laterally from said bar in the-same direction-as said'arms,

a wheel mounted to rota-te on said axle be tween said arms, said axleprojecting beyond'the outer face of said wheelyahopper supported on 7said projecting axle end and having discharge openings in its periphery,a furrowopener carried by the front arm of said bar and a covererby itsrear arm, and a handle connected with said reararm and projectingrearwardly in longitudinal aline- 'ment'with the wheel and parallel withthe '2. ,A planter of the class-described including=a revolubly mountedwheel, and a truncated cone-shaped hopper secured at its larger endtoqone-face of said wheel and having a peripheral channel formed in itsinner face with openings through the peripheral wall thereof, a bandmountedto move peripherally in said channel with a threaded studprojecting outward through one of the-openings in-said channel wall,said opening being elongatedto provide for the movement of said studyanda wing nut on said stud for clamping said band in adjusted position. i

3. In a planter of the class described, the combination of' a supportingframe, a handle carried thereby; a bracket also carried there by, a seedcovering member pix *otally-mounted on saidbracket,acoiled-springconnecting saidmemberwith said bracket ata-point inadvance of =itsp'ivotal connection therewith, a wheel revolubly mountedin said frame, ahopper carried by said wheel and having peripheralopenings, and Imeansl for varying the size-of said openings. 7

.4. In a planter of he& class described, :the combination of asupporting "frame in the form of a bar having-arms extendinglaterallyin-the-same direction at opposite endi thereof, a furrow openerdetachablymounte 'ed'on the arm-at the front endof said bar, a. prongextending rearwardly from "the rear arm, ahandle engaged with-saidprong,a bracket'carried bysaid reararm, a seed covering member pivotallymounted on said bracket, =a coiled spring connecting-said member withsaid bracket at a point in ad- Vance of its pivotal connectiontherewith, a wheel revolubly mounted in said frame between said arms, atruncated cone-shapeo hopper secured to the outer face of said wheelwith its larger end abutting said wheel and closed thereby, a removableclosure for the smaller outer end of said hopper, said hopper havingperipheral openings in its larger end adjacent said Wheel, and means 10for varying the size of said openings and for closing them at the willof the operator. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presenceof two witnesses.

JAMES H. SMITH. Witnesses:

W. R. WILLIs, R. A. BYNUM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

